The Fortieth Chapter of Isaiah, Part 4

Say, then, ye worms of earth, to whom
Will ye your glorious God compare?
Vainly through all His works ye roam,
To find Jehovah's likeness there.

The vile idolater belies
His image with a golden shrine;
To counterfeit the Godhead tries;
And stocks and stones become Divine.

Man his own deity reveres
By self-delight, and self-esteem;
Whate'er the sinner hopes, or fears,
Desires, or loves, is God to him.

But have ye not His being known,
And clearly seen by nature's light;
Have not the ancient fathers shown,
And you confess'd the Infinite?

The heavens His glorious power proclaim,
The' Invisible on earth is show'd,
Nature is written with His name,
And all things speak their builder God.

Creation to His law submits,
His rule He over all maintains;
High on the globe of heaven He sits.
And undisturb'd for ever reigns.

The' inhabitants of earth from thence,
As grasshoppers, His eye beholds:
His hand, and power, and providence
The curtain of the heavens unfolds.

Tis He who stretch'd them out, 'tis He
Who still the wide pavilion spreads,
That blue ethereal canopy,
And draws it o'er His creatures' heads.

Princes, and kings, that dare withstand
Their uncontroll'd Creator's sway,
Shall sink beneath His mighty hand,
And fall, and fade, and die away.

Planted awhile, or sown below,
Their stock accurst shall ne'er take root;
The Lord upon their pride shall blow,
Wither the flower, and blast the fruit.

Say, then, ye abject worms, to whom
Will ye your glorious God compare?
Who shall His holiness presume
To match, or who His power shall dare?

Lift up your eyes to things on high,
Nor fix on earth your groveling thought:
Who built yon azure vaulted sky?
Who spoke those beauteous orbs from nought?

God only wise, and great, and strong,
Made them to run their heavenly race.
(Knowledge and might to God belong,
Honour, and majesty, and praise.)

Their radiant hosts He marshals right,
Their nature, names, and number knows:
He bids them in their courses fight,
And blast their great Creator's foes.

They hear; and each His will performs;
And, lo! to man they ever call,
"Lift up your eyes, ye abject worms;
Adore the glorious Cause of all!"
PART v.